Northern Ireland rider Lee Johnston was in a 'cricitical' condition after North West 200 crash, family reveal

The Ashcourt Racing rider came off his Yamaha machine in Supersport qualifying on Thursday.

Johnston was initially described as having escaped without any critical injuries. Reports later suggested he had sustained a broken leg in the accident, which happened at Church corner.

He was transferred to York corner in an ambulance before being airlifted to hospital by the Air Ambulance.

On Tuesday, a statement issued by the 34-year-old’s family revealed the extent of his injuries, and confirmed that Johnston spent ‘three days’ on a ventilator and had been in intensive care ‘since Thursday’.

It read: “Sorry nothing has been released up until this moment.

“As people are aware, Lee crashed Thursday in the supersport practice. He was airlifted to Belfast hospital in a critical condition after having a blood transfusion on the golf course.

“It’s been a rollercoaster of a week, with Lee being in intensive care since Thursday, three days on a ventilator, 8 hours in surgery.

“We are pleased to announce after suffering a broken femur, shoulder, break in the foot and face, a number of broken ribs and a collapsed lung, Lee is on the slow road to recovery.”

The statement said his family had not been informed that he was in such a poorly condition until they arrived at the hospital.

“Lee was in a critical condition when he arrived at the Hospital, family and team were not informed of how bad of a condition he was in until the hospital staff explained the condition he was in on arrival. With this we [weren’t] aware of what had been released to the public.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to every member of staff that has worked on Lee. From surgeons, doctors, nurses, we are very grateful for the treatment and care he has received.

“A huge thank you to the medical team that worked with Lee to keep him alive on the way to the hospital.

“The amount of support from people has been incredible and none of it has been unnoticed.

“The support towards Lee, Christie, mum, sister and the team has been incredible.”

His family added that although the Fermanagh man, who lives in Huddersfield, faced a long road to recovery, Johnston ‘will be back’.

“It’s going to be a slow and hard recovery but he will be back better than ever. He’s got a long journey ahead of him, we would be grateful if you could respect his privacy while he’s recovering.

“Thank you again for every single person that’s supported the past week.

“He will be back.”